


As Luck Would Have It

by duustbunny



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Christmas Fluff, Destiel - Freeform, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M, Misunderstandings, a very merry mix-up, and very cliched too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-15
Updated: 2017-12-15
Packaged: 2019-02-15 06:38:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13025364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/duustbunny/pseuds/duustbunny
Summary: Dean goes visit a girl on Christmas Day but he gets lost and ends up at the wrong house. The Novak's house. Everyone thinks he's Castiel's supposedly fake boyfriend.





	As Luck Would Have It

**Author's Note:**

> For [castiel-knight-of-hell](http://castiel-knight-of-hell.tumblr.com/), who wanted a Destiel version of A Very Merry Mix-Up, a Hallmark movie where a woman sets out to meet her fiance’s family at Christmas and winds up at the wrong house.

Dean looked down at the piece of paper in his hand just in time to watch the wind yank it away from his gloved fingers. He was standing in one foot of unshoveled snow, face buried under three loops of scarf, surrounded by generic-looking houses on a generic-looking street in a generic-looking town. On Christmas Day.

But Cassie Robinson was worth it. She was all smiles on a smart mouth and tight jeans over mile-long legs, so of course Dean had jumped at the opportunity when she had ‘casually’ mentioned her parents would be in Missouri for the holidays visiting her brothers while she had to stay in Ohio to cover meaningless Christmas stories for the local paper. With Sam in California and dad elbows-deep in work work work, no one would be missing Dean today. He and Cassie could keep each other company.

Sure, the little strip of paper with her address was gone, but Dean had a good memory. He would have no problem finding her place.

  
*******  


The person who opened the door when he rang the bell was definitely not Cassie. For starters, _he_ was a _man_.

“Can I help you?”

Dean gaped. “Uh... Cassie invited me?”

The man beamed. “Oh! You’re Cas’ fake boyfriend!”

“I-- What?”

“You just lost me twenty bucks, kiddo. I gotta say, it sounded like Cas was just making you up to keep mom from asking any more awkward questions. But come on, knowing Cas, can you really blame me?” He held out a hand. “I’m Gabriel, by the way. Cas’ brother.”

Dean shook the proffered hand on auto-pilot. “I’m Dean.”

“Finally, a name! Well, come inside, Dean. It’s freezing.”

Dean kicked the snow off his shoes and went in.

“We weren’t expecting you. Cas told us you’d be visiting your family for the holidays?”

“And I thought you guys would be in Missouri.”

“Missouri? Nah, it’s not Christmas if the entire family isn’t gathered under mom’s roof stabbing the shit out of one another’s backs. Come on, get out of those layers, you’re baking in there.”

“Who was it, Gabe?” an older woman’s head peeked from around a doorway. “Oh, hello.”

Dean peeled off a glove and waved.

“That’s mom,” Gabriel whispered to him.

Okay... maybe Cassie was adopted. And clearly tricked into a surprise Christmas party.

“Mom,” Gabriel continued, louder, “this is Dean. Cas’ boyfriend.”

Dean flushed anew. “I-- I’m not--”

“Oh, it’s so good to finally meet you!” She grabbed his face and kissed him once on each wool-covered cheek. “Cas said you wouldn’t be able to make it... No worries. I think we can stretch the meal a bit for you.”

“You always cook for an entire garrison, mom.”

“I have five growing boys.”

“Growing in width, you mean.”

She clucked and turned to Dean again. “Let me help you out of those clothes, sweetie.”

“It’s okay, I can manage.” He quickly shrugged off his coat and untied the scarf from his neck, hanging everything on the wall next to the other coats. When he turned back around, there was another person there.

“Hey, who are you?” the new man asked.

“He’s Cas’ boyfriend,” Cassie’s mom said before Dean could answer.

“Pay up, Gabriel!” he exclaimed in delight, then turned back to Dean and said, “I knew you were real. I’m Luke.” He offered his hand and Dean shook it.

Soon, he was being ushered through a heavenly-smelling kitchen toward a busy dining-room and shaking even more hands. Cassie’s brothers, cousins, aunts and uncles; at least thirty people were gathered around the longest table Dean had seen in a family home, drinking sparkling wine and chewing on various snacks distributed on red and green paper plates as they introduced themselves and labelled him Cassie’s boyfriend. Dean gave up on correcting them. By the time he sat down, he could barely remember five names. Six, tops. Cassie herself (or Cas, as her family apparently called her) was nowhere to be seen.

“So, Dean,” another of her brothers—Michael—said from across the table. “Tell us about yourself. Cas was so vague we thought you were made up.”

“Oh, I’m real,” Dean joked. It kinda freaked him out that all of Cassie’s extended family knew about him when he had only met her last Friday.

“So how did you guys meet?” a young woman asked.

“At the university.”

“You’re not one of Cas’ students, are you?” Luke asked, eyes wide in mock-worry, a smirk breaking through.

“Uh...” Cassie was a professor? She had never mentioned that. “No, no. I, uh...”

“You’re a real smooth talker, aren’t you?”

“So you teach, too?” Michael asked, throwing a disapproving look toward his brother.

“I was just, uh, visiting a friend,” Dean quickly lied. He couldn’t very well say that universities made for excellent hunting ground when you were looking for a one-night stand. Besides, Cassie was definitely not a one-night stand. Almost a week after meeting her, they hadn’t even so much as kissed yet. “I work at the auto repair on West Union.”

“Bobby’s?”

“Yeah. I started a couple of weeks ago when we moved into town.”

“We?”

“My dad and my--”

“That’s funny,” Luke interrupted. “Cas said you met last summer.”

_What?_

Before Dean could say anything, Cassie’s mom was setting a full plate in front of him, the smell of roasted turkey making his mouth water.

“You’re not a vegetarian, are you, Dean?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Because I could make you something else if you were.” She set another plate in front of the empty chair next to Dean. “Where’s Cas?”

“Probably upstairs, avoiding us as usual,” Luke supplied.

Michael sighed and stood up. “I’ll go.”

Gabriel immediately stood up, too. “Don’t worry, I’ll go. You just... stop interrogating this poor guy before you scare him away.”

Something seemed off.

Fifteen minutes later, Gabriel still hadn’t come back.

Something was definitely off.

Everyone was eating, so Dean was, too. No need to let such delicious food go to waste. He was almost done clearing his plate when Gabriel came back, a younger man in tow. He must have been another of Cassie’s brothers. He was taller than Gabriel, maybe about Dean’s height or perhaps a bit shorter, dressed in slacks and a white long-sleeved shirt, dark hair spiking up like he had just rolled out of bed. His eyes were wide and blue, impossibly blue, skittering around the room as if searching for something. When they finally settled on Dean, he stopped, and so did Dean’s heart. For a beat or two. Just... just a little arrhythmia, probably. Not because Cassie’s brother was gorgeous or anything.

Oh, hell. He was in trouble.

“Ah, Cas,” Michael said. “So good of you to finally join us.”

_Cas?!_

“I hope you like your turkey cold,” Luke added.

“Yes, well,” Gabriel said, tugging on Cas’ sleeve to direct him toward the table. “We ran into some... unexpected... unexpectedness. But nothing that will prevent us from finishing this meal in peace, right, Dean?” He threw Dean a loaded look.

What. The. _Hell?_

His line of vision was suddenly filled with blue as Cas sat down next to him, eyes still fixed on him. Up close he looked terrified. And even more stunning, if that was at all possible.

Dean quickly looked away and focused on finishing his mashed potatoes as slowly as possible. He felt like he had turned a corner and finally realized he had been in Crazy Town for the past hundred miles. Was he being played, or was this whole thing the biggest misunderstanding in the history of Athens, Ohio?

If he was being played, then this Cas guy was too. Dean glanced at him through the corner of his eye. The man looked like a spooked rabbit caught in the headlights, sure that he was about to be roadkill but unable to move away. He was moving his fork around the cooling gravy on his plate, not once lifting it to his mouth.

“Everything okay?” Michael asked, leaning over the table to speak directly to Dean and Cas.

Cas wasn’t looking up, so Dean answered a quick “yeah, yeah” for both of them. The last thing he wanted was to start one of the famous mass-backstabbings Gabriel had mentioned earlier. He needed to get Cas alone and ask him what the hell was going on.

“Tell us something else about you guys,” a young teenager said. “Something cute.”

“Yes, do tell us,” Luke said, eyes boring straight into Dean’s. “After all, an hour ago we all thought you weren’t real.”

“I thought you did,” Dean answered. “And you were making money because of that.”

Luke hid his expression behind his glass. “Of course. I’m sure you are as genuine as they come.”

“He’s just looking after our little brother,” Gabriel said, clearly trying to contain the situation before it got out of hand.

“I get it,” Dean said. “I’m a big brother myself.”

“A full-time job, right?” Michael smiled. “Even when they grow up. Just yesterday I had to jump to Luke’s rescue before he got himself into another fight at the precinct. Luckily his boss owes me a favor or three.”

And with that, the conversation veered into safe territory and Dean faded into the background amid family anecdotes and lighthearted fun-poking between relatives.

Cas remained quiet throughout, and didn’t look at Dean again.

After dessert, Dean thought it was high time to make a graceful exit and put this whole bizarre afternoon behind him, a hard-to-believe story to share over beers with his nonexistent friends. But before he could excuse himself, Cas stood up.

“I’m going outside for some air. Coming, Dean?”

Trapped, Dean stood up too and followed him to the front door. As soon as they were out on the porch, the guy shoved Dean against the wall, hands fisted in Dean’s shirt.

“Who are you?” he asked through gritted teeth, breath ghosting up in the cold.

 _Don’t think about how close his lips are, don’t think about how close his lips are..._ “Who are _you?_ ”

“Tell me who hired you.”

“Hired me? Oh, I wish! There’s only one reason I would willingly go through this insane charade and that is money. But no, instead I have to do it so your brothers won’t stab me on the back!”

Cas deflated at that and stood back, letting go of him. “So they are threatening you?”

“What? No!” He was still yelling, but he couldn’t seem to stop. “Look, I just came here to see a girl who was supposed to be home alone, but obviously I got lost and ended up in the wrong house, and somehow it took me a whole piece of turkey and three delicious spoonfuls of mashed potatoes to figure it out!”

“So this is all a misunderstanding?”

“Hey, I can’t believe it either, but what else could it be?”

“I’m sorry you got caught up in this. My family can be... a lot to take in.”

“I noticed.”

“But no one will stab you on the back, I assure you.”

Dean snorted. “Luke might shoot me, though.”

Cas’ eyes glinted in mirth. It was a beautiful sight. “Castiel Novak,” he said, holding out a hand.

“Dean Winchester.”

Cas’ hand was still warm despite the freezing temperature.

The door opened and Gabriel came out with coats and scarves. He gave Dean his and the others to Cas. “Take a walk, chat in peace, get away from this nightmare. Just bring my little bro back in one piece, got it?”

“I--”

“He has nothing to do with any of this,” Gabriel continued, “and I’m sure you don’t, either. Maybe no one does. But in any case, thank you, Dean. For playing along or whatever.” He smirked. “You saved Christmas.” And with that he disappeared back into the house.

“I, too, thank you,” Cas said. He was putting on his coat. “I’ll make your excuses later. I think I’ll stay out here for a bit.”

Oh. He was being kicked out. It felt cheap, after his outstanding performance as fake boyfriend. He was hoping he’d at least get to know a little more about Cas. Nah, who was he kidding? He was hoping for a kiss under the mistletoe. For appearances’ sake, of course. Just to sell the boyfriend ruse a little better. Was there any mistletoe inside the house?

“Oh, right,” Castiel interrupted his train of thought. “You said you were lost. Let me walk you to the main street at least.”

“No need, I--” _Wait a second._ “You know what? That’d be great, thanks.”

The started walking down the street, keeping a slow pace in the thick snow.

“So you made up a boyfriend to stop your mom’s awkward questions?”

Cas sighed. “I said I had ‘someone’--” he even did the air quotes “--and I guess my whole family assumed I was gay.”

“You aren’t?”

“I am. I just never said anything to them. But mom’s been getting more insistent every year, saying I could use that kind of company, that it’d be good for me... I don’t know. I didn’t think one little lie could blow out of proportion like this. I just wanted to get her off my back this past summer break, with me being home all day.”

“’Cause you’re a college professor, right?”

“Assistant professor. Introduction to Visual and Material Culture.”

“I’m a mechanic at Bobby’s Auto Repair.”

“Now I know where to get my car fixed. If I ever buy one, that is.” He finished the joke with a smile and Dean’s heart did a little somersault in his chest.

“You can come visit without a car, too,” he said.

Cas frowned. “Trust me, you don’t want anything to do with me.”

“Why don’t you let me get to know you better so I can decide that for myself?”

Two steps later he realized Cas had stopped in his tracks and was staring at him as if he had grown a second head from under his scarf.

“Or not,” he hurried to add. “Sorry. Forget I said anything.”

Cas tilted his head, eyes narrowing. “I don’t want to... misunderstand.”

Oh. _Oh._ “Neither do I. So I’ll do this slowly, okay?”

He moved into Cas’ space and tilted his head down, lips hovering a couple inches from the other man’s. For a second –an eternity– nothing happened. Dean figured he would have already been pushed away if he was overstepping a line, but at the same time he didn’t want to pressure Cas into something he wasn’t sure of. Just as he was about to step back, Cas tilted his head and softly, so softly, touched his lips to Dean’s.

It was everything Dean thought it wouldn’t be. Sparks flying, butterflies in his stomach... all the things he believed were only true in theory, but no one actually experienced in reality. Except now he was feeling all that and more, things he couldn’t even process, all in the span of five seconds tops before Cas pulled away.

“Thanks,” Cas said, and immediately grimaced when he realized how awkward it sounded.

Dean himself was grinning like an idiot. “Any time.”

“Any time?”

“ _Any_ time, Cas.”

“I thought... I thought you had a girlfriend.” At Dean’s confused stare, he elaborated, “The girl you were supposed to see today?”

“Oh. Yeah, not my girlfriend. I met her last week. But it wasn’t gonna work out anyway, she and I.” He grabbed Cas’ scarf and tugged a little.

“Oh?” Cas sounded rather breathless as he let Dean pull him closer. “Why not?”

“Because now that I’ve met you –kissed you– there’s no way I’ll ever get you out of my head.”

When they kissed again, it was everything Dean now knew it would be.


End file.
